In Costa Rica, the birding deal is always fantastic. Drive an hour and you could feasibly lay eyes on a quetzal, the one and only Wrenthrush, Scarlet Macaws, antbirds, a dozen hummingbirds, and more. I mean, honestly, that’s pretty darn good.
Take this morning for example. In my urbanized, very much people-centric neighborhood in Heredia, I walked down the street, birded for an hour and saw 39 species, one of which was a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl with an unlucky Northern Yellow Warbler in its talons (!). It was being harassed by a couple Brown Jays, a bunch of beautiful Blue-gray Tanagers, hummingbirds, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Tropical Mockingbirds, a Yellow-green Vireo, and other species while South American-bound Barn, Bank, and Cliff Swallows and occasional screeching Crimson-fronted Parakeets graced the skies.
Those birds and more can be attributed to lifesaving big trees and vegetation on a small adjacent farm as well as a riparian zone. It’s not much habitat and yet, it still act as vital living space for a bunch of birds and migrants (I recently saw 3 to 4 Cerulean Warblers there and will likely see a Golden-winged soon). It’s wonderful but the best birding is, of course, further afield. Regarding that, much to our good birding fortune, as I alluded to above, you don’t need to go far to see a wealth of incredible birds.
With that in mind, I’ve designed some short birding tours that maximize birding potential in different major habitats, close to the greater San Jose area. More than 100 species are possible on all of them, 200 even possible on the two night trips. Check it out:
One Night Birding Tour in the Costa Rica Highlands
A male quetzal is always the star of the avian show.
Who says you have to go birding for a week to see a quetzal in Costa Rica? Although 7 days birding is always better than one or two, if you don’t have the time for it, fantastic birding near San Jose is possible in a morning, day, or one night trip.
3 other of many stand out bird species possible on this tour include:
The cloud forest highlands are some of the closest quality birding habitats to San Jose but, you only need to go a little bit further to reach another, completely different biome on the Caribbean slope. These foothill rainforest and lowland rainforest host the highest variety of bird species in Costa Rica; day trips I have guided there have resulted in 150 to 170 species. Imagine how many birds are possible during two and a half days of birding?
Three stand outs of many possible species include:
Two Night Birding Tour in a Mega Birding Hotspot- the Pacific Lowlands
To reach the close highlands and Caribbean rainforests, we drive north. Go in the other direction and it only takes 45 minutes to an hour to reach Scarlet Macaws!
These and hundreds of other species live in the mega ecotone of Carara and Tarcoles. In this river valley, coastal habitats, rainforest and dry forest meet and offer a fantastic array of birds. The following are three of a huge number of avian possibilities:
Great TinamouMale Slaty-tailed Trogon.Rufous-tailed Jacamar
This two night birding tour to the Carara area is a good way to see an excellent blend of dry forest, edge, and humid forest endemics in a short amount of time.
Have an extra day or two in the San Jose area? If you are in San Jose for business or starting and ending a birding tour, these itineraries will enrich and expand your birding experience in Costa Rica. They can also be done as one night tours or even as a day trip. Prepare for your trip with my Costa Rica birding site ebook and study your field guides, there’s a lot of birds waiting for you in Costa Rica!
Bird migration is not one fine day when all the birds decide to leave, as if on schedule, catching a flight. Although they do follow a good degree of evolution honed timing, different types of birds use different cues to get up into the sky and go.
Shorebirds, those incredible fliers, reach the evergrass and marshy habitats of the Arctic, look around for a bit and, if the breeding deal isn’t to their liking, turn around and start to head back south. That would be heading all the way to Virginia estuaries and Texas mud flats and onward, some even reaching Patagonia.
Check a map and that looks a bit exaggerated, flippant, loco. Except that birds can’t afford to be fools. Make the wrong choice, bad place to land, wrong time to fly, don’t eat enough, and it’s a Darwinian dead end. No, some shorebirds leave the Arctic early because cues tell them it’s not worth sticking around and trying to breed. Not worth the energy, better to use those sharp wings to zip it back down to the tropical mud flats, the muddy estuaries sieved by spoonbills and haunted by crocodiles.
In Costa Rica, we’ve seen potential signs of that monkish choice this past summer; Hudsonian Whimbrels and other shorebirds in June. Some were probably young birds that purposely overstayed their winter vacation but maybe not others. There seemed to be a few too many that came back early to have all been youngsters extending their tropical mudflat party.
Since then, numbers of shorebirds have been passing through the country but, for the most part, we’ve been waiting on a lot of the other birds. Yes, there have been the expected Least and Elegant Terns, and I was dealt a fortunate August card with Sabine’s Gulls and the swallows started flying a month ago. I’d be amiss if I didn’t also mention the expected pulse of Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites, our “early” raptors, but the bigger numbers and bird variety didn’t start happening until recent days, yesterday and today most of all.
For the past week, I glance into the morning sky over the traffic laden streets of San Joaquin de Heredia and I see small birds flapping and soaring, flying steadily east and south. Groups of six, then ten, then another ebb in the flow of Cliff Swallows over houses and busy corners. On one such corner, as with many a corner these days in urban Costa Rica, a Venezuelan mother sells lollipops for coins, for something to help support her two young children with her. The kids might be sitting on the sidewalk, might be playing on a street sign as hundreds of vehicles pass by. Some do give her something and she smiles, dozens of Cliff Swallows flying over ignored or unseen, they’ll probably fly over the same jungles of the Darien that she and her kids likely crossed going the other way.
The past few days have seen more swallows, more Cliffs and Barns and, this morning I had a few Banks too, all taking that same ancient route to South America. And now their skies are joined by other birds, mostly ones moving through the sheltered dark of night. I peer into the night sky and can’t see them, haven’t heard any but, this morning I had proof of their passing.
It had rained most of last night, a rare occurrence during these Super El Nino days. Normally, it would be raining here every night, long, heavy rains but, the overheated waters in the Pacific have turned this place into a temporary dry season. It feels like January; sun and wind with rain clouds gripping the mountains and flooding some parts of the Caribbean lowlands. But last night, we had a good, solid rain, this morning was cloudy and cool and bereft of breeze.
That’s good birding weather here, weather conducive to good bird activity and yes, it was. I walked the quiet roads in my Central Valley neighborhood, took a short stroll down the street to the wall that separates us from an adjacent rare and much appreciated farm. As usual, I scanned the massive remnant fig on the other side of the wall, a tree that, over its hundred or more years must have fed countless thousands of birds; everything from kiskadees to flocks of Amazonian bound Eastern Kingbirds, warblers, parrots, and Three-wattled Bellbirds too.
Birds still stop in it, maybe some of the same ones year after year but today, I couldn’t find anything in the thick jade leaves. Closer though, hummingbirds were sputtering and chasing each other, de-facto Rufous-taileds mostly but one on a high perch was a female Green-breasted Mango.
Another that flew to a different tree ended up being a Plain-capped Starthroat, needle beak and all!
Common birds were also calling and an Inca Dove splashed in a mini pot hole bath but I didn’t see much else. I thought, “Where’s the Red-eyed Vireos? Where’s the warblers?” Sans expectations, I strolled onwards, heading another two blocks to the water treatment area. This is our main patch of green space, our one and only occasionally smelly and slightly noisy oasis (classic birding spot), it flanks a riparian zone where cecropias, figs, and other trees grow and it’s of course where most of the birds are.
Look close and careful and you might see a Lesson’s Motmot or glimpse the Common Tody-Flycatchers and Cabanis’s Wrens that usually call from the foliage. Keep watching and more birds appear, especially in cloudy weather and, apparently, especially during the first week of September.
Peering in and beneath the trees, I glimpsed a dim flash of yellow that became a Northern Yellow Warbler. Another joined it and then there was a smart black and white bird creeping on crooked tropical branches. It’s always nice to see Black and white Warblers, so distinctive, so cool looking, just like that initial one was on the corrugated bark of a big tree at Hyde Park in Niagara Falls, 1981. I wasn’t hearing much but I kept looking, I know how sneaky these migrant birds can be when they pass through Costa Rica.
Sure enough, a bit of a paleish bird zipped into the green. Then another and another. Scanning eventually found them; Red-eyed Vireos roosting and resting I suppose. I eventually saw others foraging and more flying in and out of the vegetation; all silent, all so unobtrusive, I must have seen a dozen and figure that the parks and remnant precious green spaces in the Central Valley must host hundreds of the hidden birds.
I kept watching and a small pale bird moved in a Cecropia. I was immediately on it with my bins and yes, maybe because of its pale color or other subtle subconscious hints, it was a bird I had suspected it to be; Cerulean Warbler! Gem blue and cloud white, it busily inspected the thick Cecropia foliage before joining the Yellow Warblers in thicker, more tangled cover.
Feeling grateful and elated, I figured I’d better watch some more, see if I could lucky with an ultra sly cuckoo or maybe a less common warbler. There were also nice resident species to watch; a pair of Lineated Woodpeckers flapping into view, beautiful Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers too and the common kiskadee trio (Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed, and Social Flycatchers). Blue-gray Tanagers also sort of got into the way and a Black Phoebe perched and called behind me.
It was some nice birdiness and then it got bird crazy! Out of nowhere, as I visually checked the foliage for hints of movement and out of place shapes, a dark bird with pointed wings flies right in front of my field of view, eye level. It swoops around in a circle and then cuts off to the other side of the trees. I find myself saying out loud, “Common Nighthawk!”
I don’t know if I flushed it or if the nighthawk had suddenly flown in but I was pretty happy to see it. Although these summer time nightjars pass through the Central Valley, the numbers are small and who knows how many fly over unseen, up in those dark skies? To see them for the year, I usually have to go to the Caribbean lowlands or coast, it was fantastic to see one this morning, and at such close range.
Not long after the nighthawk had bird bombed my vireo searching, the sun came out and a breeze picked up. As expected, the already subtle migrant bird activity quickly died down and I started walking back home. On the way, in the view over houses to a distant McDonalds, churches, and the airport, I saw a slender bird in flight and there the nighthawk was again. Assuming it was the same individual, it hadn’t gone to roost, there it was, boldly and quickly covering ground as it flew over the houses. I hope it found a good roost, I hope it’s somewhere much further south tonight as it flaps and glides towards Brazil.
I had a good morning but, checking eBird lists, I wasn’t the only one. A birder reported 100 Common Nighthawks on the coast, and my friends Juan Diego and Maria Jose of Lifer Tours had some yesterday and today at The Nest along with several Ceruleans, Prothonotary Warbler, and other migrants.
Over by Naranjo, Jim Zook had a rare Yellow-throated Warbler along with other migrants, and one of the Garrigues sons (of Richard Garrigues, author of the Birds of Costa Rica a Field Guide) had a dozen Upland Sandpipers (!) at the airport as well as various migrants near there.
Yes, the pace of bird migration in Costa Rica has definitely kicked up a notch, what will tomorrow bring?
Want accurate and updated information on where to go birding in Costa Rica? Where to see Snowcap and how to see quetzals and 900 other species of birds? Please consider supporting this blog by purchasing my 1,000 page ebook “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. Recently updated, it will enhance every birding trip to Costa Rica. I hope to see you here!
We have arrived to September, year of the Super El Nino (2026) and here in Costa Rica, the weather has lived up to the meteorological predictions; heavy, flooding, landsliding rains where it should be drier, and very little rain where it should be awash with precipitation. It’s like someone flipped a tripswitch to push the Pacific rains over to the Caribbean, and that someone in question is the Pacific Ocean. Way too warm, something’s gotta give, something already gave and it’s gonna keep on giving, the weather sages say into 2027.
It’s a flipped deal from the expected, one that makes me wonder how it’ll affect the local avian scene.
In Costa Rica, lots of birds take advantage of the wet season to raise young, especially on the Pacific slope and Central Valley. The same goes for the Caribbean slope but it’s much more pronounced on the west side of the mountains. Evolution has keyed the birds into this rain regimen for thousands of years; nest when the rains start, higher productivity means more food and a better chance at raising broods. It’s why the Yellow-green Vireos show up in spring en masse, singing from every park and foliaged area of green space on the Pacific side.
Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers come here for the wet season too.
Swallow-tailed Kites are another species that arrives for the rains, perhaps in part, benefitting by depredating nests that resident species build. But what happens if the rains don’t arrive like they should? What happens if it rains early and goes back to a pseudo dry season deal replete with moisture wicking winds and hour after hour of the natural sun lamp beating down from the blue?
The same goes for Piratic Flycatchers, the latter here to commandeer the bird nests other species are building so they can raise young of their own (!).
How’s that for some weird cuckooish bird vagabond activity? If fewer birds nested, the naturally “lazy” Piratics must have had fewer broods but, it looks like a fair number of birds successfully nested after all. I doubt as many as normal but, I do know quite a few seemed to nest early. Like, they got the memo, knew something we didn’t- unsurprising for birds far more in cue with the happenings of their natural surroundings than most people are.
Back in February, it seemed like the early rains triggered a nesting response; hopefully those species succeeded in raising young. I can’t imagine many birds nesting later on did as well.
With migration kicking into gear, I can’t help but likewise wonder if the change in rainfall affects food availability for migrants. I would think so for the Pacific slope but maybe those birds that land on the dry side of the mountains can somehow move over to the wetter side? I hope so and it’s not out of the question, those wetter forests are pretty close. In the meantime, at least it has been raining a bit more on the Pacific, hopefully that trend will continue to give resident and migrants birds some respite. Here’s some other news from Costa Rica:
Umbrellabirds at Centro Manu and a Way to Help this Endangered Species
The Bare-necked Umbrellabirds are back at Centro Manu! Although these crow-sized megas aren’t exactly abundant, at least you can know that a few are frequenting the forests of Centro Manu. In keeping with the timing of their elevational migrations, there are probably more in nearby, similar areas but Centro Manu is one of the most accessible spots.
Once in a while, one shows up right around the cabins or parking area but usually, you need to hike into the back part of the forest to see them. That means wearing rubber boots and being careful because it’s a wet, muddy trail with roots and other slippery factors but, if you can handle that and hang out in the back part long enough, you have a fair chance of seeing this special bird.
You’ll see lots of other good birds too, maybe Snowcap, manakins and more. This spot is possible as a day trip from the La Selva and San Jose area, if interested in a guided day trip, contact me at information@birdingcraft.com
A few of my eBird lists from guiding clients at Centro Manu:
One of the main reasons it’s so hard to see Bare-necked Umbrellabird is because the big cotinga is endangered. Their populations need more foothill and adjacent lowland rainforest than is available, about all we can do is reforest as much as possible. That and support this organization: the aptly name Umbrellabird Conservation Action Network (UCAN). This NGO has been doing more to help this rare species than anyone, check out their site and please consider lending your support. They have some great inside information about umbrellabirds in Costa Rica and can also arrange an ethical visit to the only known lek!
Migrants Have Arrived in Costa Rica
What I mean to say is that the first wave of songbird migrants has arrived. It seemed to happen on August 31th, after a couple days of rainy weather. I had been checking the tiny areas of green space in my urban Central Valley neighborhood for some days before then but had few birds. One day, there was a movement of swallows including a locally uncommon Purple Martin (most move through the Caribbean lowlands) and one or two Red-eyed Vireos but nothing else.
That changed this past Monday when my morning walk revealed several migrants foraging in a small riparian zone. I hadn’t expected them, before reaching that spot, I hadn’t seen any pewees nor any other migrants. However as I approached the streamside vegetation, I heard a chip and saw a small flash of yellow. The first Northern Yellow Warbler of fall migration! Then I saw a second and wondered if there might be another bird or two around.
Waiting by the mix of tall trees and low, thick vegetation, I began to notice some movement in the leaves and saw a small bird zip by. Oh yes, some birds were there alright! Most turned out to be Red-eyed Vireos but there was also an American Redstart and, when two small warblers flipped into view, I quickly realized i hit the jackpot with close views of female Cerulean Warblers! I had hoped to connect with that bird, knew that they were moving through but seeing them in the Central Valley is always hit or miss. Luckily, that morning, I was in the right place and enjoyed watching them forage down low for some time. I suspect three were actually present but can’t say for sure.
I took that as a cue to stay put and keep watching and although no cuckoos popped into my field of view, I did see quite a few REVIs, one Blackburnian, and a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher along with Cliff Swallows flying overhead and three more Purple Martins. More birds should be on the way with each coming day.
Puntarenas Birding Pays Off
The port of Puntarenas is off the regular beaten birding track but, go with a scope and seawatching often pays off. On Sunday, we took a morning trip there and even though the warmer than usual waters looked like they had a bit of a red tide going on, I still saw birds.
It was a bit weird but I guess that’s normal for less than normal conditions. There weren’t as many pelicans nor frigatebirds as I usually see, nor as many Royal Terns but, some other birds were passing by. I had hoped to catch Least Terns as they pass through Costa Rica and, sure enough, it didn’t take long to see some flying towards the inner gulf. Over the course of an hour and a half, I might have had a dozen along with a scattering of Black Terns, and some Elegant Terns too.
Most were fairly far out but, as is typical for this spot, several flew in from the sea to fly fairly close to the point. I could see a feeding flock way out on the horizon, looked like most birds were in the outer gulf but, I also picked up a not so common, Common Tern, had one of each of Cocos Booby and Blue-footed Booby and, as I was on the verge of leaving, noticed the best bird of the day.
It’s hard t leave Puntarenas because birds can occur at any time, flying in off the ocean. Sunday was no exception as my last binocular scan picked up a pale bird that looked slightly different. I put the scope on it and was pretty sure it had flashing black and white wings. After some playing with the zoom, I was able to follow it long enough to know I was seeing two Sabine’s Gulls!
Although this high Arctic species is regular in pelagic waters, you have to be lucky to find them from shore, even in the Gulf of Nicoya. Even better, one of those same birds or another one ended up flying rather close to the point. It was a pleasure to get such good views of this beautifully patterned gull, one normally associated with ice, eternal summer days, and the high seas.
Book Rooms Now for the High Season
On the future birding front, just a reminder to book your stay in Costa Rica now before it’s too late. For a lot of the most visited places, it might be too late already, don’t wait any longer. If you can’t stay at a preferred lodge, at least there’s other options along with a plethora of excellent birding sites to choose from.
“How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” 2026 is Available!
Speaking of those birding sites, you’ll find nearly 300 of them in my bird finding guide for Costa Rica. Recently updated for 2026, here’s some reasons why this 1,000 page ebook will enrich any birding trip to Costa Rica:
-Unlike a recent AI “written” itinerary guide I’ve seen, my ebook wasn’t crafted from random and erroneous information online.
-I wrote it based on decades of experience and studying birds in the field, and what I’d like to see in a bird finding guide including accurate information that stems from firsthand knowledge.
-Updated and edited accounts for nearly 300 sites, many of which aren’t on eBird. However, there are also links to eBird hotspots.
-Tips and ideas to help you find unfamiliar birds like puffbirds, tinamous, and antthrushes along with information about and honest chances at the rarest species in Costa Rica.
-Identification tips for woodcreepers and everything else.
Not to mention, purchasing this book also helps support this blog.
Birding Apps and Field Guides to Enrich the Upcoming High Season
A field guide is another essential for any upcoming birding trip to Costa Rica. Yes, you could get the free Merlin app and that’s great (although it’s vocalization ID is still limited for Costa Rica) but, there are other publications with more in depth information written by local birding experts.
The main app to get is the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app by Birding Field Guides. This digital field guide includes:
-All the birds on the Costa Rica list and a bunch more that could turn up (more than 1,000 species total).
-Many images for most species including birds in flight and others to help with identification.
-Vocalizations for most species.
-Field maps and detailed information including tips for seeing each species in Costa Rica.
-Information about habitats, regions, and other aspects of Costa Rica.
-Free updates and works offline.
-Can be customized to show target birds, birds from certain regions, habitats, family, and more.
As far as field guide books go, come October, you’ll also want to get the new edition of the Garrigues and Dean “The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide“. Having seen some of the new illustrations and other features, I can’t wait to get this book! From what I’ve seen, it promises to be a must have field guide and addition to every birder’s library. I know how much they’ve been diligently working on this book, it’s going to be top notch.
To help local birding initiatives, especially ones to teach young people, I also recommend donating “Aves de Costa Rica” published by Ensifera to organizations that promote birding in Costa Rica. This small illustrated book acts as a good teaching device and gateway for Ticos to get interested in birds; I’m sure it will work well for this purpose because a friend of mine, David Rodriguez, was involved with creating this book and works at connecting young people with nature and reforestation alongside his spouse, Lily Briggs, the founder of the Finca Cantaros Environmental Association. This excellent NGO helps engage local people with nature and birds through reforestation and other means around San Vito area and possibly other areas as well. To help them promote birding and nature engagement in Costa Rica, please contact Lilly or David at this email or here.
Going birding somewhere new? In the pre-digital days, we sought bird finding books, kept magazine articles, and even paid (!) for trip reports. Hard to imagine but a lot of things were different back then in the pager, pre-mobile device times. It was also a time of common birding discovery, especially when birding abroad.
Forget birding apps, a lot of places lacked proper field guides. We took care to remember field marks, made field sketches and notes and tried to figure things out after the fact, often, with visits to libraries. University libraries could be especially good; they often had obscure field guides, bird books, ornithological tomes, and access to scientific journals.
Digital cameras and the Internet have largely erased those old time necessities but it’s still a good idea to pay close attention and take field notes, at least if you are interested in improving your field identification skills. As for preparing for a birding trip and figuring out where to go, although many of us still read trip reports, it seems that lots of people go the social media route; asking questions in birding groups and forums.
From what I’ve seen, as expected from crowd sourcing, the answers don’t necessarily provide the best information. Instead of answering the question, I see a lot of comments or suggestions that reflect personal experience; a factor that, although valid, is often limited by the inherent inexperience of being a tourist. We could say the same about many forums and social media posts equally faulted by affording the same weight to answers from everybody.
Anyone can comment but who knows best? How do we know who the experts are? But then again, if you are only looking for nice places to take photos of pretty birds, hummingbirds, and quetzals, do you even need answers from experts? Maybe not but, if it benefits a birder to know that Great Green Macaws aren’t necessarily present in certain areas during wet and dry seasons, or that Agami Heron colonies are mostly active during the summer months, well meaning comments from tourists might not be adequate.
It’s also worth knowing that quetzals aren’t limited to the Dota Valley or Paraiso Quetzal (even if Facebook posts might hint otherwise). Those are wonderful and beautiful areas but quetzals occur in other places too, sometimes just an hour’s drive from the airport. With such potential shortcomings in mind, it’s nice to know that at least we have eBird.
This fantastic worldwide resource is another major modern birding boon (maybe the biggest, on par with affordable digital cameras, improved optics, and the Internet in general) and whether you make eBird lists or not, you can still use it to see where other birders have been seeing birds. It can be a great resource for planning a trip, especially with that hotspot feature. Check those out, give em a whirl and you could easily plan your whole trip around eBird hotspots.
You could certainly do that but, there’s an important catch to consider. Since eBird is also based on crowd-sourced material, it only shows what people put into the system. This brings up a couple of obvious but important points:
If no one goes birding in a given area, there’s no bird information for that area, no matter how good the habitat might be.
If an excellent area or site does not have hotspot status, it doesn’t mean that the spot isn’t good for birding, it just means that it has yet to be officially declared as a hotspot.
In other words, there might be a lot of good birding sites out there even if you don’t notice them in eBird (which makes sense since birds live in appropriate habitat). Although Costa Rica gets increasingly better eBird coverage, there are still a number of great birding spots off the eBird radar including the following three sites:
The San Rafael de Varablanca Road
Of all the accessible, underbirded spots in Costa Rica, this one comes to mind front and center. I always have the place to myself, I’m a bit loathe to share the info but, since that goes against my core belief of helping all people experience more birds and our natural world, I’ve got be honest and share the gen.
In this case, we’ve got a good, paved road around an hour’s drive from the airport that passes through and next to cloud forest, much of which is at the edge of or in the buffer zone for Braulio Carrillo National Park. Bird there and don’t let the road and pastures fool you; you’re raisin bins at the edge of wilderness, beautiful cloud forest prowled by Pumas, surely some Jaguars, Tapirs, and more.
Probably undescribed plants and bugs, maybe some other things too? Most pertinently, the habitats along this roads are home to countless birds and the birding can be fantastic. It of course varies but I often see a couple of quetzals among an excellent assortment of cloud forest species. If the raptor flying conditions are good, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Barred Hawk, and Great Black Hawk are also regular and, in certain places, at certain times of year, I’ve also had umbrellabird.
Yeah, it’s a good area alright and you can bird it for free and at any time right from the road, at least up to where the road is unpaved and, shortly thereafter, supremely rough. If this road could be paved or at least improved for its length to the foothills, it would be the best birding road in Costa Rica.
Thousands of birders have surely driven by this spot without stopping and I don’t blame them. You’re on a tour or schedule, you can’t be stopping at every random site. Do that in Costa Rica and you’ll be here for years (most of this bio-packed country is a natural hotspot after all). However, you might want to check this place out.
Located on Route 32, just north of the Aerial Tram, the Casa Manigua is a good restaurant also very good for birding. Surrounded by foothill rainforest, you might see a mixed flock from the balcony, might notice a Laughing Falcon perched across the street, or see raptors and parrots in flight.
The highway can be noisy but the birding can still be very good with coquettes and other hummingbirds visiting flowering trees, and Sunbittern on the river down below (nice trail but it can be slippery).
Overall, a worthy place to stop for a cold smoothie or tasty meal including wood fired pizza. I have yet to try that but it looks promising. Check out this list.
The Rio Negro Jaguar Reserve
Lastly, we have this spot much further afield from the Central Valley. It might not be labeled as such but this is the name for the lowland rainforest north of Rincon de la Vieja. Only a small portion is accessible by a good road but it’s still worth birding it. Very little visited, I wouldn’t be surprised if this forest harbors rarities like Tawny-faced Quail and even Speckled Mourner (it is near a place that has recorded those rare species).
I haven’t been there very often but on my few visits, I was pretty impressed and yearn to investigate that site further. There were Slaty-breasted Tinamous, I heard Black-eared Wood-Quails, saw Black-crested Coquette, Snowy Cotinga, and many other birds. In 2017, a Harpy was seen near there, bellbird can be present, and I bet umbrellabird and Lovely Cotinga too. I can’t wait to go back!
I always want to return and bird these places but lately, I’ve been thinking more about these and other similar sites for another reason. Recently, I’ve been working on updating “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica” and can finally say that the fourth edition is available. Updated to include a high percentage of birding sites in Costa-Rica, recent edits include:
Information for nearly 300 sites in Costa Rica.
Updates for many sites.
Updated information about bird identification and birding in Costa Rica in general.
Of course it also includes information about the three sites mentioned in this blog as well as many other little birded spots. Prepare for birding Costa Rica in 2026 and 2027 by purchasing this 1,000 page ebook. You’ll also be supporting this blog, I hope to see you here!
August is nigh, a month of hazy, late summer dog days accompanied by an anxious need to visit an amusement park, go camping, ride your BMX like there was no tomorrow, or carry out various other free-time activities vanquished by the restart of classes.
At least that’s how it felt as a kid growing up in Niagara Falls, NY. Quick, get another soft ice cream! Enjoy that Italian Ice but sip it slow or you’ll catch brain freeze. Do what you can and do it now because any day now, you’ll be standing in that line on the dreaded first day back at school.
In August, we weren’t the only ones feeling anxious in Niagara. Birds were and are feeling it too, feeling the coming change and internal push to move to other places, follow the ancient routes to escape the imminent cold and stay alive. We went birding in August and saw the first small migrants gathering at lake shores, searched for shorebirds passing through from the way distant north. We watched dowitchers and plovers and peeps in remnant pools at wildlife refuges, Great Lakes rocks and flats, and classic wastewater works.
These days, in Costa Rica, I still watch many of those same August birds although here, we’ve also got Marbled Godwits accompanied by an abundance of Whimbrels and Willets. There’s also far more resident birds that stick around and enrich birding in Costa Rica all year long.
If you’re visiting Costa Rica soon, you’ll see lots of those resident species and maybe a few migrants too. Here’s some updates and information to consider.
It was already illegal to enter national parks and other protected areas outside of established visited hours. It has also long been illegal to climb into active volcanoes and carry out other risky stuff inside national parks, even if a tour provider sold them to you.
Right, like why the heck would anyone want to risk becoming a Darwin award recipient, much less pay to get the final terminal prize? “Likes” is probably why along with general thrill seeking but, as of late April, it’ll cost you big time.To keep tourists from climbing into dangerous zones of active volcanoes and discourage agencies from selling such tours, individuals and agencies who do so can be fined several thousand dollars.
Yes, that much and authorities are serious about it.
Before you think, well, I wasn’t planning on climbing an active volcano anyways, it doesn’t just apply to obviously dangerous endeavors. Although those law breakers pay the highest fines, technically, you could also be fined for entering any protected area outside of established visiting times. The Meandrica Trail in Carara might look open but, if you enter it before or after official operating hours, according to the new law, it looks like you could be potentially fined more than $2,000. The same goes for any protected area with established visiting times and entrance fees.
And that’s not all. Since the law also states that visitors could be fined for carrying out unauthorized activities, visiting birders better make sure they know what those are before entering a national park. Luckily, most parks have signs at the entrance that state what is not allowed and park guards also frequently tell you what you cannot do.
I know you can’t bring in plastic bottles, might not be allowed to bring food into some national parks, pick any plants, and aren’t allowed to leave established trails. You also can’t use playback, feed or touch animals, and might not be allowed to use flash or laser pointers either. Would you be fined for committing such transgressions? I’m not sure but, I wouldn’t risk it either.
To avoid testing a park guard’s level of tolerance, here’s what I recommend- Be very clear about knowing what is allowed, do not walk off of trails, DO NOT enter any national park or other protected area outside of the established visiting hours, do not use playback, and don’t bust out the laser pointer.
Inca Terns!
If you’ve been birding in Peru and done any watching on the coast, you’ve probably seen this fancy and unique tern. Why so fancy? I don’t know but I like it! And, thanks to the Super El Nino, unprecedented numbers have reached Costa Rica.
There’s not like hundreds of Inca Terns around but local birders have been seeing 6 or so on rocks just off the coast of the tip of the Osa Peninsula. A few have also been seen along other parts of the coast along with a few Peruvian Boobies.
If you make it to the Pacific Coast, scan any rocks and boats, there might be an Inca Tern sitting out there! I hope to be doing that soon, might be some other vagrant birds out there as well.
Oilbirds!
Tis also Oilbird season! Not that there’s a bunch around but, August is indeed high time to connect with this weird bird species in Costa Rica. There have been a few reports from the Monteverde area and more are likely out there in other parts of the country.
The best way to see one would be visiting the Monteverde area, taking a night tour and asking to see Oilbirds. If you can’t make it up that way and are adventurous, you can also go another, more arduous route. That would include scouting out Lauraceous trees with “small avocados” in the Talamancas or Irazu or even around Barva and Poas Volcanoes, and then waiting until nightfall to see if you hear or see Oilbirds in action. It would be a long shot but, you never know.
Cinchona’s Getting Better
The classic birding site of Cinchona seems to be improving. For several months, bird activity was pretty slow but, lately, it has picked back up with regular sightings of toucanets, both barbets, and other regular species. A quail-dove or two has also been showing below the feeder, including a young Chiriqui Quail-Dove!
The hummingbird front has seen more Coppery-headed Emeralds but still seemed somewhat slow. To make up for it, on a recent trip, we had a few more species at the Soda Orquideas just up the road.
The birding is also quality in the general vicinity of Cinchona. For example, while birding around “Old Cinchona” and from Soda Orquideas, we had one distant Ornate Hawk-Eagle in flight and the same or another perched as well as Barred Hawk, Bat Falcon, Short-tailed Hawks, White Hawk, and Swallow-tailed Kites.
Migrant Birds Moving through Costa Rica
Last but not least, coming back to migrants, shorebirds are moving through Costa Rica in fair numbers and the first of others have arrived. Those include Orchard Oriole, L. Waterthrush, migrating kites, and a surprise Yellow-throated Warbler (!). Soon, we should also be seeing Yellow Warblers, Ceruleans, and some other birds.
Later on, I worry we won’t see as many Tennessee’s, Swainson’s, Red-eyed Vireos, and some other species. I hope so but worry they aren’t faring well with the massive fires on sizable parts of their breeding grounds. We’ll get an idea about that in September and October.
To learn more about sites mentioned above and hundreds of other Costa Rica birding sites, please consider supporting this blog by purchasing “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. I hope to see you here in Birdlandia!
Where to go birding in Costa Rica? When planning a birding trip to Costa Rica, essentially, that is the eternal question. It’s a question for any birding trip anywhere but, in Costa Rica’s case, the right answer is compounded by the best type of quandary. Irony tastes great when there are too many good birding spots to choose from.
Costa Rica has so many birding hotspots in such a small area, it’s sort of like the whole country is a hotspot. Seriously. You don’t have to move far to run into quetzal territory, tanager flocks, and getting buzzed by Fiery-throated Hummingbirds. This close proximity of hotspots is reflected by the odd lists of potential species generated by eBird; tinamous and other rainforest birds appear as possibilities for San Jose because they occur just on the other side of the mountains.
Even so, no matter how small Costa Rica is, no matter how many rainforest birds live just 20 minutes from my house as the frigatebird flies, it’s still worth knowing where they can be accessed. Despite recent, localized reforestation, Costa Rica continues to be fairly deforested, at least along many roadsides. It’s worth knowing where you can go birding in Costa Rica and what the visit entails. In other words; the sites where you are better off spending your birding time.
Two of many such possible sites are El Copal and Hotel Quelitales. Located in or near the Orosi Valley, both sites are rather close to each other and both are also fantastic sites with a wealth of uncommon, “quality” species. Should you visit one or the other or both? Read on to find out.
Accommodation at El Copal compared to Quelitales
If anything, this is probably the biggest concrete difference. El Copal is pretty rustic while Quelitales is absolutely comfortable. If you don’t like staying in a cabin-like room with minimal (or no) amenities, do not stay the night at El Copal. You might also have to share a bathroom in this fairly remote, basic site. The food is also basic but still good and if you don’t mind forgoing some comfort, you won’t mind staying overnight at El Copal.
Hotel Quelitales is pretty much the opposite. Rooms are in beautiful, very cozy and clean bungalows. It’s the sort of place that one enters and doesn’t want to leave, especially when you also enjoy excellent cuisine and delicious, bird friendly coffee from Cafe Cristina.
Both sites also have great, friendly service and staff who will do what they can to accommodate you. Needless to say, Quelitales costs more but the value of the accommodation, service, cuisine, and birding is excellent.
Access
A birding site might look next door on a satellite map but ground logistics are always another matter, especially in tectonically rearranged Costa Rica. Look on a map and we see El Copal sort of next to Tapanti National Park and, it sort of is. However, you can’t get there from Tapanti. Maybe some day but, don’t count on that bit of road going over the mountains being passable any time soon.
Hey, it might happen but, in the meantime, you’ll need to take the longer route, one that goes around the base of a low mountain. That translates to an hour’s drive or so from Orosi or, probably two and a half hours from the San Jose area (sans traffic). There are also a few spots that typically require high clearance and/or four wheel drive. Most days, a two wheel drive could also probably make it but I wouldn’t count on it.
Hotel Quelitales is more accessible and a bit closer to San Jose but the final stretch of the road in can be a bit tricky. Two-wheel drive will make it but a four-wheel drive vehicle will still be easier.
As far as birding on site goes, both offer great birding at or close to rooms while Quelitales also has a hide for photographers. Both also have moderately rough trails that can be steep and slippery in some places, the one at Quelitales being more difficult (if you want to reach the upper part of the trail).
Birding Information/ Local Gen
In this respect, both sites are about the same in having on-site birders happy to tell you where they see whatever species and how often they see them. You’ll get the best in up to date gen; on a recent visit, Beto at El Copal told me exactly where he had been seeing Ochre-breasted Antpitta, quail-doves, and other tough birds while Quelitales owner Jose did the same while also checking Crested Owl roosts and giving us other tips. We couldn’t have asked for more at either site!
El Copal is foothills, Quelitales is middle elevations
Accommodation and price aside, this is the main difference between this pair of fantastic birding hotspots. One is more in the foothill zone and the other is a bit higher in elevation. In other words, El Copal is slightly warmer but still cool at night and offers a chance at more foothill species. On the other side of the coin, Quelitales is cooler overall, especially at night, and has more middle elevation species.
Key species at El Copal
Among the hundreds of species possible at El Copal, some of the stand outs not generally seen at Quelitales include Snowcap, Tawny-chested Flycatcher, White-crowned Manakin, Black-capped Antthrush, Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, Ashy-throated Chloropsingus, Blue-and-gold Tanager and some other tanagers, antbirds, Yellow-eared Toucanet, and Lattice-tailed Trogon.
Key species at Hotel Quelitales
Quelitales also has a fantastic list, including these gems not often seen at El Copal or, much easier to see at Quelitales: Sunbittern, Crested Owl, Black-bellied Hummingbird, White-bellied Mountain-gem, Green-fronted Lancebill, White-eared Ground-sparrow, Sooty-faced Finch, Black-breasted Wood-Quail, and Rufous-breasted Antthrush.
Some cool species shared by each site
Quality birds at both sites include Bicolored Hawk and other raptors, Ochre-breasted Antpitta (still not easy), Sharpbill (rare), White-winged Tanager, Violet Sabrewing, Middle American Leaftosser, Zeledon’s Antbird and much more.
Which place to choose? Your answer depends on budget, availability, and how you like your accommodation but “both” would be a good bet especially since you can visit El Copal as a day trip from Quelitales (many guests do this). I will say that Quelitales is certainly a better place to base yourself for birding as it is closer to various other sites in the area including Irazu Volcano, Rio Macho, and Tapanti.
To further complicate the good birding matter, these sites are also near other excellent birding destinations; Rancho Naturalista, La Marta, and Vista de Aves! To learn more about these and decide which of the other hundreds of birding sites in Costa Rica are worth your while, you’ll find answers in “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. I hope to see you here!
Birding is more than watching birds. Anyone who has partaken becomes aware of this fact, probably after the first time they do it. Speaking of birding for the first time, I don’t recall having a definitive first birding moment or excursion or class. However, there was that time when i was six when my father brought me to Canada, maybe to cheer me up, and that might count. I had a minor infection on my left index finger, had to have it lanced, and recall him taking me to Canada not long after.
By “Canada”, I mean walking across the Rainbow Bridge to visit the same named city of my home, on the other side of the gorge, Niagara Falls, Ontario. From my parent’s house just off Pine Avenue in downtown Niagara Falls, NY, it took around 15 to 20 minutes to walk to the bridge. That close and yes, we could hear the Cataracts of Niagara at our house, if quietly, off in the distance, 24/7.
I don’t exactly recall walking across the Rainbow Bridge, maybe because I eventually ended up doing that dozens of times, nor do I recall when we had our adventurous stroll (for a 6 year old) but, I do remember two things from that day in 1977, quite clearly. The first is when we spoke with the Canadian border agents. Noticing my bandaged finger and being a good sport, one of them asked me if I was a fighter. I must have said no, I think they laughed and he replied, “That’s good because we don’t let fighters into Canada”.
After they let me in on account of being an injured non-fighter, my father and I walked through the beautiful parklands that paralleled the rim of the gorge. This is some of the area that offers spectacular views of the American and Horseshoe (or Canadian) Falls. It can also offer magical, look-down views of a myriad of gulls, loons, and other river bird life but I wasn’t aware of that at 6. The park has big, old trees, flowering bushes, and other beautiful garden greenery. There’s also birds, mostly common ones, and one of those birds is the other main thing I recall. I noticed a striking male Red-winged Blackbird foraging in the grass and I asked my Dad of he knew what that bird was. He said he did not but wondered if it might be an oriole.
Not a bad guess for a non-birder, he did get the family right! I can’t say that was my spark bird; I was already interested in animals and became interested in birds by way of books at the Earl W. Bridges Public Library. I had also already been looking at birds and trees and other aspects of nature so, I can’t really say it was my first time doing some sort of birding either. However, that visit to Canada at six might have been the first time I specifically asked about the identity of a bird species.
In any case, if we did happen to refer to that day as “birding”, even if our main focus had been watching birds, it would have also been much more than that. There was positive interactions with border guards, strolling through beautiful green grass with my father, noticing the jade green waters of the Niagara River flowing 180 feet below, hearing tourists speak in languages other than English, and more. This being 1977, although I don’t recall, there must have also been boat-sized vehicles and quite the disco fashion scene going on.
In any case, what I’m saying is that birding is always more than watching birds and, we even have subsets of birding. Oh yes, we do since, although birding is checking out feeder birds while sipping hot ,fresh coffee (feedercoffeebirding?), it’s also creeping through rainforest to stalk antpittas, watching migrating raptors, and challenging winter’s bite to look at ducks.
Yesterday, my subset of birding involved staring through optics while slowly scanning back and forth, hoping to pick up movement while the sea breeze whistled in my ears. I was seawatching and doing it at Puntarenas, one of the better spots in Costa Rica to carry out this focused birding subset.
I had been eager to visit Puntarenas after hearing about El Nino birds in Panama. Those would be seabirds moving north from equatorial and Humboldt Current waters to look for better foraging grounds. Sadly, with water temperatures being pretty El Nino warm here too, I don’t know how much sanctuary they’ll find in Costa Rica. Nevertheless, the birds have arrived in Panama and some (or maybe many) will also make their way to these shores.
We’re talking birds like Blue-footed Boobies, perhaps a rare Peruvian Booby, and chances at other mega rare birds for Costa Rica. Maybe an Inca Tern? Could a Guanay Cormorant appear? What else? The only way to know is by looking for them and you can’t go wrong by watching from Puntarenas. You’ve got to watch from the area of the lighthouse and watch with a scope too but, you do that long enough, you should see something interesting. I suspect the avian prizes have something to do with the spot jutting into a meeting point of currents and where the inner gulf sort of meets the outer gulf.
Yesterday, I wasn’t sure what I’d find or, if there would even be any birds at all. Happily, there were and it was a good, productive morning of seawatching in Costa Rica.
The Usual Flybys
While scanning from Puntarenas, you’ll see the usual flybys, the birds to expect and enjoy and become familiar with to train yourself to pick out less common species.
I watched and saw Royal and Sandwich Terns both near and far, flying to and from the inner gulf. I checked every one and you have to because a juvenile Red-billed Tropicbird can look surprisingly like a Royal Tern and, although rare, they do visit the Gulf of Nicoya.
There are also the two big common bruisers, Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds while pairs of White Ibis oddly flap their way across the gulf. Laughing Gulls also fly past and you’ve got to watch them too, you don’t want to pass off some rare gull for a Laugher!
Keep scanning and you’ll probably pick up Neotropical Cormorants and one or two Cocos Boobies. That Sulid used to be commoner although it’s still regular, especially from the ferry.
Pelagic Birds!
Keep scanning back and forth, keep looking because, eventually, a tiny black bird might come zipping over the waves, like a bat out of the big blue abyss. I didn’t see any storm-petrels from shore yesterday but, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few were visible from the ferry. Consolation was welcome in the form of few Galapagos Shearwaters, way out there, fluttering low over the waves. Distant, but the only Puffinus shearwater at this time of year, and regular in the gulf, especially in the summer.
A Galapagos Shearwater from another day.
While scanning, I also picked up another pelagic bird, one I would have missed if I had ignored the distant terns. I picked up the long winged bird in the scope as it leisurely crossed over sizeable parts of the gulf and, seeing that it wasn’t exactly one of the usual flybys, stayed on it. Darker gray back and a hint of a head pattern, Bridled Tern! Now is a good time to see this elegant seabird in Costa Rica, especially from the ferry.
The other pelagic bird species I saw might not exactly fall into that category but I’ll mention it here anyways. While scanning, a few, smallish, fast flying birds caught my eye. “What are those?!” I wondered as they zipped to the right and joined a small feeding flock of regular terns. Darkish, they fluttered and I saw the white below. Of course, Black Terns! Not all move north, some stay in Costa Rican waters, all year long.
Blue-footed Boobies
Blue-footed Booby
Those distant pelagics weren’t the only fun birds on yesterday’s seawatching block. The stars of the Puntarenas birding show were much bigger and a few came quite close to shore. They were also one of the first birds I noticed, Sulids diving in the shallow waters of the inner gulf. Silhouetted, they could have been Cocos Boobies but when they flew into better light, they revealed their identities. Dark beak, white on the tail and a big white patch on the back, yes!, Blue-footed Boobies!
The El Nino birds were here and they showed very well with a couple floating in full view. I made a conservative estimate of 4 but am pretty sure there were more, way out there in the waters of the gulf.
Surprise Arctic Terns!
An Arctic Tern from another year.
Saving the best for last, I was sort of mindblown to witness a quartet of small terns fly into view. Like several other birds, they were flying towards the inner gulf, coming in from the deeper, wider waters and flying past the point. Not all that close but, close enough to catch some field marks through the scope.
Smallish and pale, I nearly cast them aside as distant Sandwich Terns. Luckily, I realized that ID didn’t quite fit, that although they had dark beaks, they weren’t that species. Flying quickly past, I saw pale wings with some of a dark carpal bar but didn’t notice any dark secondaries, didn’t see any dark on the topside of the primaries. Something wasn’t clicking, something didn’t make sense because those birds didn’t belong there right now, even when I got a clear, definitive view of the underside of the primaries. There it was, a narrow, dark line etched on the trailing side of the primaries, like someone took a fine-tipped permanent black marker and drew that unmistakable line, the one that an Arctic Tern shows.
It’s a shame I did not have a camera but I had seen enough, especially after reviewing dozens of images of June, immature terns. When I read that yes, many young Arctic and Common Terns spend their first summer on the wintering grounds, it made more sense. I can’t help but wonder if those young Arctics were El Nino birds too? I suspect so, I don’t think they’d normally have much business visiting the gulf at this time of year, much less Costa Rican waters in general but, there they were and I wonder, what the heck else is out there right now? Inca Tern? Kelp Gull? I wouldn’t be surprised, I need to take that ferry.
To learn more about birding Puntarenas and hundreds of other birding sites in Costa Rica, support this blog by purchasing my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. Happy birding however you do it, I hope to see you here!
It’s June, 2026, do you know how many birds you’ve seen this year? Or heard? If you’re keeping track of the number of bird species you’ve identified, take note, 2026 is halfway over! Yep, 6 months down and 6 months to go and whether you are a birder doing a Big Year or just counting year birds, you’re about to enter the home stretch. It’s a long 6 months but they’ll go fast; time is running out!
The hour has arrived to plan out the next 6 months, to arrange trips and visits and birding breaks for the birds you still need to identify. Make plans and restrategize and mark calendar dates. Book hotels or check out campgrounds and maybe flights, it’s up to you to see how far you want to take your annual counting of birds.
Or, count but go the Zen birding route and take the birds as they fly. Meditate under an old growth tree to clear the mind and then go birding whenever and wherever. You won’t see as much as the red-eyed, strategists but so what? Mushroom tea and woodpecker drums? Watching soaring raptors and imagining what it would be like to ride those same thermals? This is your birding year, you can count birds however you want or, not even count them at all. It’s your birding list, this is your birding life.
But you really should try to see a Black-and-yellow Tanager. Or a Swallow-tailed Kite or one of those blue-faced Black Guans or, gasp, the magnificence of a Resplendent Quetzal. As much as I dislike the pushy connotations associated with “should”, in this case, it’s all about making birding recommendations with the best of intentions.
We enjoy whatever birds we see but let’s face it, some birds sort of look pretty mind blowing more than other birds (hello House Wrens…). Take that aforementioned tanager for example. The male’s bright, nearly orange-tinged yellow contrasts with coal black and it has a slender look and beak that make it look sort of like a king warbler.
Or the kite in being a living definition of elegance. That raptor was built to mesmerize!
The guan is cool because yes, it does have a blue face and, that’s not all! It has garnet eyes that makes it look like an escapee from the stuffed animal dimension.
As for the quetzal, reasons to see that ridiculously extravagant bird are self explanatory. I mean, the thing is big, it shimmers better than cellophane (!), and makes wacky, cackling sounds in flight. If you have yet to see one, prepare thy mind for sensory birding overload. Tears may happen (and justifiably so).
A male quetzal is always the star of the avian show.
It’s June, 2026 and I’m pleased to have spent some time with these species since January. I hope to keep seeing them but, I do have some other birds I’d like to experience over the next six months. Those would be bird species I have yet to run into this year in Costa Rica, svelte birds like the Spotted Rail and Paint-billed Crake, Elegant Trogon and Ivory-billed Woodcreeper. Ruddy Woodcreeper would also be welcome along with Thicket Tinamou and Stub-tailed Spadebill (a right name for a truly gnomish little bird).
If I make it up to Guanacaste and bird Rincon de la Vieja and other right places, I should connect with these species and more. Looking at other blanks on my year list, it looks like several mornings of dawn chorus in quality middle elevation forest could also work out well. I do that and I’ll have a better chance of hearing rarities like Strong-billed and Black-banded Woodcreepers and maybe a Black and white Becard. I might also meet with Azure-hooded Jay, antthrushes, and other unseen year birds that reside in dripping, mossy cloud forest.
It’s no surprise that uncommon species from other bioregions are likewise lacking from my year list. Those would be birds like Tody Motmot, Black-eared Wood-Quail, and a few other denizens of the foothill zone, a handful of high elevation species, and some birds more likely in the South Caribbean.
However, the birds I need to truly push me over the year bird edge are a combination of migrants and seabirds. I don’t know if I’ll make it out to pelagic waters but, if I do, I can expect ten or more species, birds like storm-petrels and shearwaters, and the long-winged terns of the high seas. Luckily, I can also catch up with some of them from the ferry in the Gulf of Nicoya coupled with seawatching from Puntarenas.
As for my missing 2026 migrants, I’ll have to wait until September to look for various shorebirds and, then, go all out with year birding efforts in October. That translates to listening to night skies, going birding most mornings, and looking for migrants as much as possible, especially on the Caribbean coast. That’ll boost my chances at finding rarities for Costa Rica like some warblers and Least Flycatcher (yeah, it’s rare here!) but it’ll also be a treat to bear witness to all the kingbirds, swallows, raptors, and other birds moving south.
Even if I didn’t see any new year birds, it would still be all good. I can’t complain with identifying 604 year birds so far including key species like Red-fronted Parrotlet, several owls, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Lovely Cotinga, and lots more!
I can’t complain with watching flybys of White-fronted Parrots and Red-billed Pigeons in an urban neighborhood either. There’s always lots to see in Costa Rica, go birding here and you won’t be disappointed!
In the meantime, I’ll do some strategizing, do some focused searches for missing year birds, and work on various writing and bird-related projects. One of those is updating “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica”. Although this Costa Rica bird finding guide is fairly complete, there have still been a few new places to add and others to edit. Hopefully, I’ll be able to finish that update soon. Until then, happy birding, I hope to see you here!
May is nigh finished. In Costa Rica, it doesn’t feel like it. We don’t mark the end of the 5th month, the transition from spring to summer, with Olive-sided Flycatchers and other “late” migrants. Although there might still be a few migrant species around, most fled north back in April. Instead of measuring May’s final days with migrants, birders in Costa Rica know when June is at hand by the heavy rains.
Normally, the rains begin in April and are an everyday, afternoon occurrence in much of May. By the end of the month, daily afternoon downpours are a given.
Not this year. In 2026, the predictable heavy rains are starting late or, maybe not starting at all and it has everything to do with the El Nino.
El Nino Weather Begins
There’s been a lot of talk about an El Nino occurring this year, maybe even a super El Nino, one stronger and longer than past events. Although we don’t know yet if that will happen, we are definitely in the initial grips of one now.
That explains the present lack of rains, at least on the Pacific slope and, the opposite on the Caribbean slope. Lately, although we have had some rains on the Pacific, they have mostly fallen in the south. The Central Valley and Guanacaste have had much less rain than normal while parts of the Caribbean have experienced flooding.
What does this mean for the birds? Since quite a few birds seemed to breed early, hopefully, the lack of rains won’t affect the 2026 breeding season too much. However, birds attempting to breed now, at least the ones on the Pacific slope, might not do so well.
If you plan on visiting Costa Rica in the coming months, expect hotter temperatures, drier conditions on the Pacific slope, and very wet weather on the Caribbean slope (which often translates to occasional landslides and localized flooding).
Good Fruit Crops on the Caribbean Slope
On a brighter birding note, there seems to be a lot of trees in fruit on the Caribbean slope, at least in the middle elevations. Although that might result in fewer birds visiting fruit feeders in some areas, this is great news and how it should be. More available fruit in middle elevations means more food for Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Lovely Cotinga, guans, tanagers, and other frugivores.
Indeed, I suspect it’s why I saw an umbrellabird and may have glimpsed a Lovely Cotinga near the Varablanca area last month. On recent visits, I’ve still seen lots of trees in fruit including the small “avocados” favored by quetzals, cotingas, and guans. I’m itching to check that area again soon to look for those birds and check for quail-doves feeding down below.
Quetzals in the Poas Area
With the good fruit crop, it’s no surprise that quetzals seem to be becoming easier to see on and near Poas. Last week, I saw several trees in fruit and had good looks at a pair, a female, and heard one or two additional males!
Quetzals probably won’t be too tough to find near Varablanca either.
Cinchona Still Slow, Corso has Improved
On a recent visit to Cinchona, I didn’t see any real change in hummingbird activity. Green-crowned Brilliants were common but I only had one sabrewing. At least an uncommon White-bellied Mountain-Gem was present.
The White-bellied Mountain-Gem is a beautiful, local hummingbird species.
The fruit feeder was also fairly slow, I suspect because there is so much fruit available in nearby forests and, perhaps because various birds are still nesting. Even so, it’s still worth visiting, at least for a short visit. To see more birds, you might also want to check out the Soda Poas (backs up to good forest), and other roadside sites in that general area.
As for Corso (now known as the Rualdo Cafe), several Porterweed bushes were in flower and were attracting several hummingbirds. There were several Volcanos (of the Poas-Barva subspecies), and a couple Scintillants, Violetears, and Purple-throated Mountain-Gems.
Fingers crossed that they do not trim the bushes again! If you stop there, please patronize the cafe. However, if they cut the bushes again, I would suggest mentioning that you would have visited but, since they destroyed hummingbird habitat, you’ll be taking your business elsewhere. I hope it doesn’t come to that but, if so, I’ll be making sure to tell them just that.
Good Marshbirds in Guanacaste, Wildfires in Palo Verde
In another part of the country, lately, the marshbirding has been pretty good. Rice fields in Guanacaste have played host to Spotted Rail, Paint-billed Crake, and Pinnated Bittern among other, more easily seen species.
This is actually expected, the challenge can be finding rice fields with appropriate water levels that have not been harvested. It might be worth driving around and checking roads near Canas and Liberia. If you are really lucky, you might even connect with a field being harvested! If so, focus in on the rice in front of the harvester, there’s a good chance you’ll see several flushed rails. including Paint-billed Crake.
Unfortunately, in Guanacaste, the hot, dry weather has also resulted in some wild fires, including a large one in Palo Verde National Park. With diminished rains forecasted compounded by hotter weather, sadly, we’ll probably be in for more fires up north. If traveling in that area, be aware of your surroundings!
That’s all that comes to mind right now but I could always say a lot more about the great birding in Costa Rica. It’s like any place you visit for birding; go birding in good habitat and you’ll see a lot! To learn about birding sites in Costa Rica along with information on finding and identifying birds in Costa Rica, you might like my ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“.
I didn’t do much birding this weekend. Yes, there was the automatic birding that happens when Crimson-fronted Parakeets exclaim their presence from urban ledges, Clay-colored Thrushes sing outside, and Brown Jays call from a neighboring farm but, I did not specifically venture outside and look for birds. As eBird would say, my birding the past two days has been completely “incidental”.
I’ll tell you what though; I made up for it last weekend (Saturday in particular) and while guiding in the Poas area a few days later. On the 13th, we had 100 plus species while birding cloud and middle elevation forests near Poas Volcano. There were silky-flycatchers, Resplendent Quetzal, Flame-throated Warblers, a glimpsed Nightingale-Wren, eye-catching Swallow-tailed-Kites, and a whole lot more but, even that wealth of birds didn’t compare to the birding bonanza that took place on the 9th of May.
That auspicious day was Global Big Day and, as befits such a bird-focused date, the birding was fierce, nonstop, trying, tiring, and simply glorious. I saw a lot but what makes Global Big Day especially fantastic is knowing that other birders from around the world are likewise focusing on birds; watching and listening and counting and noting and birdbathing in the magnificence of our feathered world.
On May 9th, 2026, those other birders celebrating the avian side of life included 81,000 plus people and although I only ran into a handful, I love knowing that all these other folks are also out there in Nebraska and Oaxaca and Japan and Tanzania and so many other places digging birds too. See some of their stories at the Global Big Day results page, and check out country and world totals at the main Global Big Day page. You’ll notice that, this year, us Global Big Dayers collectively identified more than 8,000 species! Here’s some of what happened in Costa Rica:
Good participation in Costa Rica
Although I only saw a few other birders, according to the Costa Rica results page, more than 1,000 birders were submitting lists on May 9th! That’s fantastic because, as with everywhere, the more birders the better. We also submitted a lot of checklists (more than 3,400), and had some major team results on the international stage.
In looking at the results, it looks like we had birders covering most corners of the country, including one or more pelagic trips off the Pacific Coast. Thanks to those boats, somewhat elusive birds like Christmas Shearwater and Tahiti Petrel made it onto the Costa Rica GBD list.
703 Species
Together, we identified more than 700 species, an excellent total given that a high proportion of migrants have already flown north. Some were still around, principally shorebirds, but overall, most birds on the GBD list are residents.
These included all regularly occurring hummingbird species, all tinamous, most woodcreepers, most cotingas, and so on. Of note were 37 species of diurnal raptors! That’s a good reminder that even though raptors in Costa Rica are generally uncommon, we have an impressive number of species and if you cover enough ground, you’ll end up seeing quite a few. The only regular one missing was the Pearl Kite.
Pearl Kites are uncommon, shrikeish, mini raptors.
Missing birds
Most of the resident species not recorded read like a typical wish list for folks who have birded Costa Rica on several occasions or, the rarities that tend not to be seen on a birding trip. These included challenging species like Masked Duck, Tawny-faced Quail, Violaceous Quail-Dove, Olive-backed Quail-Dove, White-tailed Nightjar, Buff-collared Nightjar, Ocellated Poorwill, Spot-fronted and White-chinned Swifts, Rufous Nightjar, Lanceolated Monklet, Great Jacamar, Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Scaled and Black-crowned Antpittas, Black-banded and Strong-billed Woodcreepers, Lovely Cotinga, Gray-headed Piprites, and Botteri’s Sparrow.
These species are tough but still regular in the right places. On past GBDs, we’ve recorded all of them by having birders looking for them in key spots. This time, I think we just didn’t have that going on.
That especially rings true for species like Spotted Rail, Mangrove Rail, Brown Booby, Pearl Kite, Middle American and “Puntarenas” Screech-Owls. All of these are fairly expected when birding certain areas or sites (although I do wonder if the two species of screech-owls aren’t vocalizing these days).
The highest total for Costa Rica
It was a long day but I was pleased to get the highest non-team species total for Costa Rica (and one of the top ten totals on the global stage). 283 species in one day also shows how darn birdy Costa Rica is especially considering that we started at midnight (although 2 a.m. was still pretty early), detoured into the Central Valley, and had some breezy and hot conditions that limiting bird song.
As is often the case, some odd birds failed to show in places where I typically record them but, I also had lots of highlights. The rare and unexpected bird experiences included Least Bittern calling once from a brushy wetland near Orotina, hearing Harris’s Hawk call just before dawn, hearing a couple of late lingering Indigo Buntings, and having a few Uniform Crakes call to each other at the end of the day, just before the rains poured down.
Carara also worked out despite being hot and home to way too many cicadas. Back in the more humid part of the forest, the areas with the biggest trees and farthest from the road, I was treated to tough and iffy birds like Piping Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Green Shrike-Vireo, Black-striped Woodcreeper, Baird’s Trogon, and Scaly-throated Leaftosser.
This eye-smacking bird has become iffy at Carara.
My raptor day was pretty low but lots of other birds showed, especially at and near Carara, and in the Poas area. What’s kind of crazy is that I’m sure I would have identified even more if I had not detoured into the Central Valley and, if conditions were slightly better for bird activity. Not to mention, very few wintering birds were still present, if so, I probably would have broken 300.
It’s also worth mentioning that all these birds also happened while driving an electric vehicle and even stopping to charge it mid-morning (where we picked up Rock Pigeon ta da!). Regarding that, I’ll be writing more in detail about electric vehicles in Costa Rica as well as the Global Big Day experience in other places. In the meantime, I’ll just mention that my GBD, and the Costa Rica GBD totals in general remind again how incredibly birdy Costa Rica is.
To learn more about the Costa Rica birding sites mentioned above, you’ll find lots of information at this blog as well as in my 900 plus page ebook, “How to See, Find, and Identify Birds in Costa Rica“. I hope to see you here!
